Ted Cruz (TX)

THE CANDIDATE

Name: Ted Cruz

Age: 41Hometown: Houston, TX

Family: Married to wife, Heidi Cruz, with two daughters

Personal Biography: Ted Cruz's father came to Texas from Cuba penniless at age 18, not speaking a word of English, but in high school, Ted gave speeches based on his studies of Mises & Hayek. Ted went on to study at Princeton and graduate from Harvard Law School magna cum laude. Cruz served as the Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to May 2008. He currently serves as a Partner at Morgan, Lewis &Bockius LLP in Houston, where he leads the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national Appellate Litigation practice. In addition, from 2004-09, he taught U.S. Supreme Court Litigation as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law. Ted and his wife Heidi live in Houston, where he grew up, with their three-year-old daughter, Caroline, and their newborn daughter Catherine.

Political Biography: In January 2011, Ted Cruz filed to run for U.S. Senate to defend liberty, preserve the Constitution, and stop federal overreach. Before this campaign, Ted served from 2003 to 2008 as the Solicitor General of Texas. He has authored over 80 U.S. Supreme Court briefs and personally argued 40 oral arguments, including 9 before the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, during Ted’s service as Solicitor General, Texas achieved an unprecedented series of landmark national victories, and he has been nationally recognized on multiple occasions for his legal skills. His Senate campaign has been endorsed by Sen. Jim DeMint, Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Rand Paul, and Rep. Ron Paul.

THE RACE

Primary Election: May 29, 2012

Runoff Election: July 31, 2012

General Election: November 6, 2012

The District: Cruz will run to replace retiring Republican incumbent Kay Bailey Hutchison. He faces eight primary challengers, the most notable of whom are David Dewhurst, Texas' Lieutenant Governor, and Tom Leppert, the mayor of Dallas. Polling shows that whoever wins the GOP primary will likely take the seat with a strong majority showing in the general; in Hutchison's last election, she won with 91.3% of the vote against two challengers.

THE ISSUES

Economics

Supports a full audit the Federal Reserve

Supports a full repeal of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank)

Supports Right to Work

Supports significant cuts to the federal budget and entitlement reform

Supports a Balanced Budget Amendment

Supports a simplified, single-rate tax system

Opposes all tax increases

Foreign Policy

Believes only Congress can declare war

Wants to find and cut waste in the military budget

Supports establishing a clear exit strategy for Iraq and Afghanistan

Opposes Nation Building

Civil Liberties

Opposes the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

Opposes TSA

Opposes SOPA and other internet censorship

Federalism & the 10th Amendment

Supports federalism on all legislation not specifically authorized in the Constitution

Wants to use the 10th Amendment to fight Obamacare

Cutting Government

Supports an audit of all federal agencies to reform or abolish them

Supports a full repeal of Obamacare

Won't vote in favor of any bill which is not explicitly constitutional